The Guardians
by LianaLyn
Summary: A new guardian has been born. Inuyasha and Shippou has been assigned to protect her. When Inuyasha discovers she's a human, he wonders if he can keep the delicate creature safe from harm and protect his heart from falling in love with her. I/K,M/S,S/R
1. Birth of A Guardian

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Inuyasha. I do not profit from this story. This is written for entertainment only and should only be used as such. This is strictly fanfiction and nothing more.**

**Please see author's profile for a detailed summary of the story. Thanks!**

**Chapter One**

**Birth of a Guardian**

Inuyasha stood in front of the Bart Station scanning the crowd for one particular person. He watched as several shuttles passed by, dropping off and picking up commuters and the million buses that came and went. They had been sent to the city to find one special person they were suppose to protect. San Francisco, California appeared to the eye of the beholder as a small island surrounded by water, but it wasn't. It was a peninsula packed with millions of people all crammed onto one tiny bit of land. It made his job even more difficult.

"Are you sure she's in this area? We've been here for four hours," Shippou his partner and closest friend asked.

"Kaede ain't never wrong when locating others," Inuyasha replied.

"Maybe you missed her. There's a lot of people here and you're getting old, Grandpa. Your senses aren't as sharp as they use to be," Shippou teased.

Inuyasha glanced at his young student who was more like a brother than a partner to him. "Watch your mouth. You aint too young to get your ass whipped in front of these people," he threatened half-heartedly.

Shippou gave him a sarcastic look and walked away to stand on the other side of the street just in case Inuyasha really decided to do it. He'd been worried about his friend lately. He looked up to him as an older brother and his mentor in life, but lately Inuyasha had begun to change. Every year his heart was growing colder and his spirit was becoming darker. Inuyasha had been through a lot throughout his long life. He'd live through unimaginable evil and now that evil seem to be slowly seeping into his spirit. They weren't saints, but they were not evil either. However, far too many of their kind had been swallowed by darkness; some of them weren't strong enough to resist.

Inuyasha smirked while he watched Shippou walk away and took out a cigarette. In human years, he was 24 and Shippou was 18. Their kind was not rare; they had existed for as long as earth had existed. Youkai and other supernatural creatures walked through the streets of the city, they managed to disguise themselves as regular human beings, only humans with special abilities were able to see their true form. Every 1000 years, a guardian of life was born and within the body of the guardian was the shikon no tama, the very orb that sustained life's energy on earth. This particular guardian had the power to nourish life on earth to its fullest potential or destroy it.

Inuyasha and Shippou were appointed by Kaede to protect the new guardian. He was a youkai, half human and half dog demon, he had no clue why Kaede had given this important assignment to him. He was bound to screw it up. The old woman had more faith in him than he had in himself. Nevertheless, he was sworn to obey her; after all, she was the oldest woman in the world, a watcher of time itself. Kaede had lived for centuries watching the world change from one period to the next and constantly on the lookout for the next guardian.

Now if they could only find this guardian before the others did; the darker ones that wanted to destroy life. Kaede knew the moment the guardian powers had surfaced, but neither Inuyasha or Shippou knew what she looked liked or what species she was, only that she was a female, had just turned 21 and was somewhere in the vicinity of where they were standing. An intense feeling of warmth and purity suddenly washed over Inuyasha startling him from his thoughts. Caught off guard, he quickly scanned the crowd. She had finally arrived.

"Shippou, can you feel her?" he asked telepathically.

"Feel her?" Shippou replied in a daze. "I think I've died and gone to heaven. She's so beautiful," he heard Shippou's dazed voice in his head.

"Get a hold of yourself," Inuyasha scolded, although he had to admit he was feeling the same way as he watched the girl pass right by him. For a moment, all he could do was watch her. His body seemed to be too overwhelmed to do anything else. Inuyasha had seen a lot of beautiful women in his lifetime, but never one that touched his soul like this one. She was a natural beauty of perfection. She wore a beige coat with a long scarf wrapped around her neck. Her long straight black hair was the color of midnight and fell loosely around her shoulders. The wind lifted it back as she walked exposing her delicate features; her pale skin seemed too soft and fragile to touch as if the slightest breeze could bruise it, exquisite high cheek bones and dark, soulful eyes made her look exotic. She wore no make-up, jewelry, no perfume, yet his enhance sense could smell the sweet feminine scent that was purely her, that was purely... his nose twitched at the undeniable scent...that was purely human!

"What the fuck?" he yelled in his head and mentally reached out to Kaede, but Shippou interrupted him.

"Inuyasha, what is she?" He was still wrapped up in her spell.

"She's a fucking human that's what she is," Inuyasha told him angrily. He reached out for Kaede, he knew the old bitch could hear him.

"KAEDE! We found your precious guardian; you didn't bother to tell us she's a fucking human!"

"What difference does it make Inuyasha, you still have to protect her," the old woman's feeble voice whispered in his head.

"You knew I would have never taken this job if I'd known she was a human. They are weak, vulnerable creatures that need to be constantly looked after, they die too easily. I thought she would be a youkai like me or some other creature, but not a weak ass human!"

"Inuyasha, I chose you to protect her because you are half human are you not? Any other creature would never be able to relate to her human ways. You are also half dog demon and dog demons would make the best protectors for a human."

"Are you kidding me? Is this a sick joke? You know I detest my human side as well as I detest humans and you make me protector of one? I swear I will come up there and kill you if I knew where you were hiding. I do not want this job. Give it to Sesshoumaru; he's a whole lot better at this stuff than I am."

"Your older brother is a full blooded youkai, he would never understand the human ways, no you are the best protector for the guardian. You cannot turn your back on your destiny, Inuyasha. The human is yours."

"Then why drag Shippou into this mess? I thought this would be an easy job. Shippou is still in training, this will be a difficult job for him as well."

"Shippou is there to balance your aggressive and impulsive nature with his peaceful one. She will not be frightened of Shippou. Guard her well, Inuyasha, protect her with your life, and teach her how to use her powers. If she falls into the wrong hands, the world will be doomed." The connection with Kaede suddenly ended and Inuyasha was left with a burden he did not want to carry. The fate of the world was on his shoulder and it was through a human. The last time he heard of a human guardian was before he was born, she hadn't lasted long, the orb was too powerful for her body and had eventually destroyed her, would the same fate happen to this one?

Kagome stepped off the bus prepared for another long boring day at work. She was grateful for having such a good job. It paid well, she had good benefits, but it was boring. Sitting behind her cubicle in the back wall surrounded by dusty boxes of files everyday was not something she looked forward to. She shook her head and stared up at the gray sky. No matter where she went, different states, different places, she always found herself in isolation from other people. It seemed as if she was destined to live the life a hermit no matter how much she tried to get close to people. The only highlight of her lonely life was being out in public. Unlike others, she didn't mind the crowded city. She felt safe and happy surrounded by people. They made her feel as if she was a part of something. She pretended the strangers on the streets were her family and the tourists were old friends she hadn't seen in a long time. They were constantly asking her for help and making conversations with her about the city. It wasn't as if she anti-social, she was quite friendly to everyone. The people at her job liked her, but never really tried to get to know her personally. She'd lived in the Bay Area for two years now and was still very lonely. A life of isolation was something she detested, but was forced to live. She could never understand why. She was a good person, never used, manipulated, or harmed another human being in her entire life so why did she suffer so much? It was a question she'd asked a million times with never an answer.

A strange feeling suddenly zapped through her as she walked through a group of doves feeding on the sidewalk. It was as if something was invading her mind, her body, looking deep into her soul. The feeling was overwhelmingly strong and nearly knocked the breath of out of her. She turned around quickly. The birds must have sensed her fright. They took off suddenly and flew through the air. The sound of flapping wings cut off her hearing and white feathers falling around her blocked her view. She couldn't move. She wanted to run, the feeling of danger was surrounding her, but she couldn't. She saw him then, a magnificent man walking through the feathers lingering in the air. She had to admit to herself that he was unlike any man she'd ever seen. For a moment, she thought she saw long white wings towering behind his body. Was he an angel? His hair was impossibly long for his masculine features and what was more disturbing was the strange, yet beautiful color, pure white, like snow. He wore a dark red trench coat that contrasted strongly against his white hair. The closer he got, the taller he seemed to get. There was an aura of power surrounding him and it got stronger with each step until she felt she would explode with it when he finally stood in front of her. She stared up at the creature towering above her; somehow, she knew that he was not human. Perhaps it was the strange golden eyes that stared so harshly into hers as if he was deliberately holding her in his grip or perhaps it was the strange cat like ears on top of his head...

Another younger looking man appeared beside him wearing jeans and a short jacket. This one didn't look dangerous or intimidating at all. She would have thought he was cute, had she not been so freaked out from the shockingly orange hair that was kept in a ponytail or the bushy orange tail behind him. This one gave her a tentative smile that nearly made her think all this was normal.

Shippou felt like punching Inuyasha in the stomach. "Stop forcing your power over her, you're going to frighten her to death!" he yelled in his head. Shippou could hear the loud beating of her heart. It was beating so fast, he thought she might have a heart attack.

Inuyasha ignored him. He could also hear the terrified beating of her heart, but he didn't know any other way to confront the woman except to be himself. He had locked her in place to keep her from escaping and reached deep into her to see what sort of person he had to deal with. No use of protecting someone he didn't know anything about. Besides he didn't have the patience for pleasantries, he didn't even want this job. The sooner he knew her personality, the easier it would be for him to protect her.

Her name was Kagome Higurashi. She'd grown up in a foster home and had been transferred from one family to the next. She had never been shown love. She was mentally, emotionally and physically abused by the different families she had stayed with and had been kicked into the streets when she turned 18. She had never known love or happiness and yet, nothing but innocence and goodness flowed through her. She was truly the most purest person he'd ever met. How could she be after everything that was done to her? It seemed as if the others, "the dark ones" had tried to turn her to their side even before Kaede knew she existed, even before her powers had awaken. This one was strong, so very strong and she was only human. To survive such a harsh life and not fall victim to it was more than he could say for himself. This beautiful woman had been through hell and back and now she was about to go through a different type of hell if the dark ones got her. Inuyasha grudgingly began to respect her, deep down he was amazed, he had thought all humans were weak, and yet this fragile girl was the strongest one he'd ever met.

Guardians were very powerful creatures in their own way. At their maximum powers, they could cast out any evil, heal the sick, even bring living creatures back to life, but guardians could also be turned to the dark side. They were not immune towards the lust for power. The only difference with a Guardian that turned bad was that they became completely evil and more powerful than ever. They would have the power to destroy the entire earth with a just a thought which was why the dark ones were always after them. His thoughts were interrupted by a wave of power that washed over him. Something was slowly breaking his hold on her. He could feel his power tearing away. He looked at Kagome in surprise. Was she doing this?

"Move, move, mooove," Kagome thought as she slowly began to turn her body. She didn't know what was causing her to be frozen in place, but her will power was stronger. She wanted to get the hell away from the creepy guy and his equally creepy friend as soon as possible.

Inuyasha watched the power he used to hold her, shatter in front of his eyes like broken glass. She frowned at him and quickly disappeared in the crowd.

"I can't believe she did that," Shippou said.

"She's using her powers and doesn't even know it," Inuyasha crossed his arms and smirked. "I'm impressed."

"So what do we do now? We just let her walk away?" Shippou asked turning to look at him.

"We follow her for awhile, watch over her. I doubt she would want to meet me now. Let her think she imagined the entire event. So when we do meet again, her defenses won't be up."

"In other words, we stalk her," Shippou said dryly.

"Yep," Inuyasha walked away. Shippou followed behind him shaking his head.


	2. The Devil Made Me Do It

One Week Later…

Kagome stared out the window of the transit bus that carried her across the Bay Bridge. Every since that incident with those strange guys, which now she was sure a dream, weird things started happening to her.

She was beginning to see things…

She wondered if her hermit life was finally getting to her. Humans were not meant to be alone all the time. She had been alone for two years. She only talked to the people she worked with and then went home to her quiet one bedroom apartment. Her phone rarely rung unless it was a debt collector or someone had the wrong number. Her weekends were the worse, she didn't look forward to spending two days completely by herself and often went back to San Francisco to blend in with the crowd. She often lived in a world where her imagination kept her company, but now she was beginning to wonder if she was confusing reality with her fantasy world.

She sighed and leaned further back in the plush cushioned seats. The fog was thick today. Coming from her town, the sun had been shining and the skies were clear. There was something about entering into San Francisco that seemed to change the entire world. As soon as the bus started across the bridge, the fog began to grow so thick; she couldn't see the city across the water. It was eerie at times.

A red glow began to appear in the fog as she stared out the window. She frowned wondering what it was. The glow got bigger and bigger then another red glow which was the same size and shape appeared beside it. They almost looked like two huge eyes…. "What the?" She sat up in alarm when they appeared to blink.

The two glowing red eyes were almost the size of the bus and they seemed to be staring right at her. She looked around to see if others on the bus saw them. No one seemed to notice except her. The eyes began disappeared gradually. A few seconds later, something that resembled a huge scaly tail swung across her view and disappeared in the fog. She swallowed there was no doubt she was going crazy.

Kagome couldn't wait to get to work so she didn't have to be alone with herself. She always felt better around people. Perhaps she should talk to someone about the things she'd been seeing. Then again, they already considered her strange, to tell them would push them further away.

The city finally appeared through the fog as the bus drove unto the exit. Kagome got off the bus quickly and made her way to Starbucks. Their coffee always made her feel better and more alert, perhaps she was just in a daze and not quite awoke.

A shadow crossed her path as she made her way down the street. She stopped and looked around. Those shadows had been following her for a while. They definitely were not hers from the size and shape of them. They seemed to be everywhere. She constantly felt she was being watched when she was alone. Was she suffering from paranoid schizophrenia?

"I'm truly going crazy," she mumbled to herself.

"You're not crazy." A dark, masculine voice seemed to invade her brain. She turned around thinking it was someone behind her. Her dark hair cascaded in an array of black silk before settling back on her shoulders. "You're beautiful." The voice said again.

There were hundreds of people walking the streets, but only one man stood out from the rest of them. This man was unlike anyone she had ever seen. He was unnaturally good-looking in a dark, evil sort of way. He had pale skin and long violet hair that hung down to his waist. Unlike the strange men she'd met a week ago, this one had a dark aura about him that she could actually see snaking off his body like smoke. He wore a long black leather coat that was open displaying his black turtle- neck sweater and leather jeans. The belt around his waist seemed to be made of small skulls. He was staring straight at her as if she was his destination. She should have turned back around, but she couldn't. Something about him held her in place. It as if she was experiencing de ja vu all over again. As he got closer, she could see his that his eyes weren't brown, but black. A cold shiver went down her spine. Something told her this thing was not human, but a monster in a man's body.

"Don't be afraid," he said when he got close enough to speak. "I just wanted to see you in person. You are so very lovely, my dear."

His voice was hypnotic, sexy and so were the black voids that were his eyes as he stared down at her. "We can do great things together, you and I. Join me and you will never be alone again, I promise you."

Kagome closed her eyes as a feeling of belonging swept over her. Nothing mattered anymore except this foreign wonderful emotion and the sound of his voice. She felt extremely wanted, needed, desired. It felt so good to her. Was this what it was like to belong to someone?

"Kagome," the strange man whispered her name seductively. "When you open your eyes, you will see my world as well as your own." She could feel cold lips brushing against her cheek. "I want you to be mine. I've always wanted you. Why do you think I never allowed anyone to get close to you."

"Get away from her Naraku!"

The second voice startled her out of her daze. She opened her eyes. Nothing. It was as if nothing had ever happened. Her ears were once again filled with the noise and bustling traffic of the city. People walked passed her and gave her curious looks as she stood in the middle of the sidewalk confused and extremely freaked out.

She needed help. She really was losing her mind.

Kagome forgot her coffee as she ran to work.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha yelled angrily as Naraku disappeared before he could stop him. He looked around for Shippou who was supposed to be watching Kagome while he was away. Shippou came out of Starbucks sipping from a cup in his hand.

"Oh my god, you got to try this! I've never had anything like it. They call it…let me see…the name is so long…oh yeah… it's a Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino blended coffee with Chocolate Whipped is so good!"

Inuyasha stared at the young man enjoying his drink so enthusiastically. He walked over to him and slapped it out of his hand.

"What the hell? Why did you do that? You bastard!" Shippou stared down at his wonderful coffee as it spilled over the pavement and ran into a drain.

Inuyasha grabbed him by his collar and glared into his face. "Where is Kagome?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"She's right…here." Shippou blinked as he looked around. "Well she was heading to Starbucks. I thought I might as well get something too."

Inuyasha let him go. "I should have known not to leave her alone in your care. I was only gone for ten minutes. Ten minutes, Shippou!" Inuyasha had walked away to grab them something to eat. Naraku was here. He did something to her while you were being careless."

"Naraku? That vile fuck? Did he hurt her? Where is she?"

"If I hadn't come back when I did, who knows what he would have done to her. If Kagome ever got under his control, everyone in this world would be doomed. Do you understand me?"

Shippou nodded seriously. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Let's go, before she gets into anymore trouble," Inuyasha said as they headed to Kagome's job.

"You know I think Kagome is the sweetest woman in the world. Just yesterday, she walked outside her apartment and saw this dead cat on the sidewalk. I don't know what it died from since it's body was still in one piece. You usually see them all flat and busted from getting ran over, this one probably died of natural causes. It was still cute and fluffy, but dead you know? Anyway, Kagome felt so bad for it that she actually kneeled beside it and laid her hands on it. She caressed it and then she got up and walked away. And guess what? That cat came back to life right in front of my eyes. It suddenly jerked and then it opened it eyes and stood up and ran away."

"She's a guardian. What do you expect?"

"But she didn't even know she had healed it."

Inuyasha glanced at Shippou. "Do me a favor and lay off the starbuck drinks." Shippou's constant chatter was getting on his last nerves. His heart had nearly stopped out of fear when he saw how close Naraku was to Kagome. How could such evil stand to be so close to something so pure? Then again, Kagome's pureness was drawing everything to her, good and evil. She was like a homing device.

Kagome was relieved to finally be at work. At least here, she knew nothing ever happened here. She use to complain about how boring her job was, but now boring was a very good thing. She didn't want to see anything, she didn't want anything strange happening to her. This was filing good old dusty files in an empty room, nothing about it would ever change.

She worked steadily for four hours by herself. No one disturbed her. Her nerves were finally settling down from her latest incident with insanity when someone walked into the room. It was Jamie. Jamie was the only one who was very blatant about her dislike of Kagome. Kagome had always been nice to her and never did anything to cause Jamie to hate her so much, but she did. Now Kagome knew the reason why.

On top of Jamie's shoulder sat a little demon the size of a puppy. It had grey leather-like skin, red eyes and black webbed wings. The claws on its feet dug into Jamie's skin. Jamie had always complained about having problems with her left shoulder. The muscles were always sore and her skin was always red and irritated. Now Kagome knew why. She could hear the demon whispering dirty little things into Jamie ear about her. And Jamie, who was completely obvious to what was happening to her, thought that tiny evil voice were her own thoughts.

"_Look at her, always trying to look so innocent and sweet. Miss Holier than everybody always has to be isolated in this room away from us sinners. Doesn't want to be associated with us because we drink, smoke and actually go to clubs. She needs to get a life, nobody cares what she thinks." _

Jamie slammed the stack of files she was carrying on Kagome's desk and spoke to her in her usual sweet sickening voice laced with sarcasm. "These need to be labeled, boxed up and sent off by tomorrow. Maybe you can finish early so they'll let you out of your cage. You know, I had a funny thought when I saw you earlier. You remind me of a monkey when you scratch your head while you're staring down at the files. It's so funny to me. Oh and you really should spray in here every once in a while; your body odor is filling up the room. I can understand if there's a group of people in here, but it's only you. Just trying to be helpful, sweetie. Bye!" She walked out with a smirk on her face happy to know she had hurt Kagome's feeling once again.

Kagome watched her walk away. She knew she shouldn't let Jamie get to her, especially after seeing that demon on her shoulder. _"When you open your eyes you will see my world as well as your own." _She remembered what that strange man had told her. She had been seeing strange things for a week, but never anything evil until now. _"I want you to be mine. I've always wanted you. Why do you think I never allowed anyone to get close to you." _What did he mean by that? What he said…could he be the cause of her loneliness? Had he taken away her right to be loved by another human being? What if that thing had caused everyone she ever cared about to turn away from her? If what he said was true, then it would explain a lot.

Her watch beeped letting her know it was time to take her lunch break. She needed some fresh air. Deep in thought, she ignored everyone as she walked out of the building. That man or thing had given her a feeling she had always wanted, a feeling of being needed. It had felt so good to her that she had wanted to stay with him. At that moment she hadn't cared that he seemed to be evil. It was almost as if he was luring her into his arms by exploiting her vulnerability. When he disappeared, that feeling had gone with him. Once again, she felt completely alone. She walked outside and went on the side of the building so no one could see the tears running down her face. She had learned to deal with being alone. She had conquered the fear of something bad happening to her and having no one to be there for her. She had learn to deal with all of that by cutting herself off from the world. Now that strange man had broken down that wall by giving her what she needed so much and taking it away.

"I can't live like this," she said softly. "I can't take it anymore."

Her shoulders suddenly felt heavy, as if something had landed on them, but she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to be alarmed.

_You have suffered all your life, well beyond what a normal person can take. You deserve to rest. Besides, you're beginning to go crazy and nobody is going to be around to take care of you. You should just end it right now. Put yourself out of your misery once and for all._

_No one will ever be here for you. You will always be alone and you will die alone. _

_It's better to die now around a lot of people than to go home and die in your bed where no one will ever know. At least this way, people will be around to take care of your body, they will give you a proper funeral. _

_You will die in dignity. _

_It will be better to end it right here than to rot away at home for months before people discover your dead body from the sickening stench."_ Tiny voices whispered in her ears.

She got up and began to walk towards the streets. Market street was full of cable cars and oncoming traffic, she would die immediately and then it would be over. She couldn't take the pain anymore.

"What is she doing?" Shippou asked. "And what the hell are those things on her shoulders?"

"They're called Manip Demons, Naraku's nasty little pets. They trick humans into doing bad things. They make them think it's their own thoughts telling them what to do and then strike when the humans are at their most vulnerable peak. Naraku must have done something really bad to Kagome to make them appear."

"Inuyasha…you don't think she's going to…I mean, she's heading towards the street, the light is green and she isn't stopping."

"She wouldn't…" Inuyasha said in disbelief.

Kagome was tired, she was so very tired of living, if she even dared to call what she was going through a life. She had attempted to be happy, but failed miserably. Now it was time to move on.

She stepped off the curb into the street and watched a bus head right for her. She could see the look of fear in the driver's face as he tried to stop the at the last minute, Kagome almost laughed. What a comical way to end her life, then again, hadn't her life been one big joke to begin with? She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact.

Nothing happened. ..

Instead ,she felt strong arms wrapped tightly around her holding her close against a hard chest. The pavement had disappeared beneath her feet. Her legs dangled loosely in the air. Had she died? She had to admit that being hit by a bus had been painless. She hadn't felt a thing. Now, an angel had grabbed her spirit and was taking her to heaven.

"I'm far from an angel and you're not going to heaven. If you had succeeded in killing yourself, you would be going to hell. Your friend, Naraku would have happily welcomed you there. Fucking weak ass humans..ugh!" The masculine voice yelled in disgust.

Kagome began to shake. This was too much for her.


	3. Yes It's Real Kagome

Kagome curled up under the soft warm covers half asleep and half awake. Something soft, warm, and fuzzy lay beside her cheek. Whatever it was; it kept nudging her forehead. A warm wet tongue that licked her nose alerted Kagome from her dreamy state. She quickly sat up and stared down at the orange tabby cat that stared up at her in adoration with dark blue eyes. Where had she seen this cat before and why was it in her room? Then she remembered, wasn't this the same dead cat she'd seen outside her apartment a few days ago? She screamed in terror and flew off the bed dragging the covers with her. The door to her room flew opened. She screamed again when a very tall, muscular man burst into her room looking like he was ready to attack. She took a step back to get away from him and tumbled down in one big heap on the floor. Her feet had become tangled into the sheets.

Inuyasha stood over her scanning the room to make sure she wasn't in danger; then he saw the cat. He relaxed in relief. "I told Shippou bringing the cat to you wouldn't be a good idea," he mumbled.

"Who the hell are you?" Kagome yelled at him in fury. How dare this stranger stand in her doorway and act as if he knew her. She should have been scared, but she wasn't anymore, she was more angry than anything else because once again the "strangeness" had returned and this time it was in her bedroom. He looked very familiar to her.

Inuyasha wasn't bothered by her anger at all. In fact he tilted his head slightly in curiosity. "You don't remember?"

Kagome blinked. She had tried to commit suicide, but something had stopped her. She remembered someone or something carrying her into the sky. "Oh my god, I'm dead!" She glanced back at the supposedly dead cat. "Am I a ghost? Am I haunting my own apartment?"

She could hear laughter coming from the hallway. Someone else was here.

Inuyasha stared down at her. She looked cute tangled up in those sheets. He almost wanted to smile. Instead, he remembered he didn't like her. "You're not dead."

"You saved me! I remember. Are you an angel or something else? Maybe this is all one big nightmare."

Inuyasha sighed. "I said you're not dead," he repeated. "And you're not dreaming either. Neither are you crazy, I know you've been thinking that for the past week."

"Okay, then who are you? And why are you in my room with a dead cat? Wait, you brought me here didn't you?" She quickly checked to see if she was still dressed since he had put her in bed. She sighed with relief when she realized she still had her clothes on.

Inuyasha frowned, offended. "I'm not a pervert! Unlike some of the men, you've been around."

Kagome blinked. He had to be referring to her past since she wasn't dating anyone currently. "Why are you acting like you know me?"

"Oh, I do, Kagome ," he said with a smirk. "I know everything about you, your past, your present and perhaps your future if you cooperate with us."

"Us?" Kagome asked picking up on his last word. "There's more than one of you?"

"You've met us before. Do you remember that day at the Bart station?"

Kagome gasped. Yes she had remembered all too well. Ever since that day, she had begun to see strange abnormal things. "So you're real after all. At least I think you are, I still say I'm going crazy, but I'll play along."

"Kagome, I understand that your feeble human mind has a hard time conceiving what you've experienced, but the sooner you believe everything is real, the easier our time together will be."

"Okay, not playing along anymore," Kagome finally attempted to stand up, her legs were stilled tangled in the sheets and she fell back down. "I will not let whatever this mental sickness is take over me. You are just a figment of my imagination and I will have my normal life back so take your dead cat and go!" She closed her eyes and pointed her finger at him. She fully expected him to be gone if she concentrated hard enough.

The room was quiet. She suddenly heard purring beside her. Something soft and fuzzy rubbed against her other hand which was on the floor. She swallowed as tears began to burn her eyes. Two strong hands grabbed her arms and lifted her on her feet.

"You're not real," she whispered. "None of this is real."

Inuyasha could hear the desperation in her voice. He almost felt sorry for her. "Kagome, open your eyes." When she didn't, he shook her softly. "Open your damn eyes!" He demanded.

She slowly opened them only to find herself staring at a wide chest. She looked up past the broad muscular shoulders, the smooth skin of his neck, pass the most perfect lips she'd ever seen on a man and into the golden eyes that stared down at her intense and serious.

"This is not a dream, you are not going crazy, everything that happened to you is real and everything that is happening to you now is real. The sooner you believe this, the easier it will be for all of us."

Kagome took a deep breath. Whatever was happening to her, she might as well just deal with it. Her mind didn't want to believe a word he was saying, but she didn't have a choice. "Okay, who are you?"

"My name is Inuyasha and the other young man in your living room is Shippou. We were sent here to find and protect you once your powers surfaced."

Kagome shook her head. "Wait, what? Powers? Protection? Who are you protecting me from?"

"I believe you met him earlier today. His name is Naraku and he's evil. He rules over the dark forces on earth."

Kagome remembered the strange man who walked up to her this morning, nothing about him had appeared normal, she had thought he was just another mental breakdown of her mind.

"The manip demons you saw at work were his creation and those same demons nearly destroyed you."

"Why would someone be after me?" Kagome asked, she could feel the fear rising in her.

"Because you're a very powerful force that could bring his entire kingdom down if you knew how to do it."

"The way he approached me wasn't someone that was out to destroy me. He told me he wanted me to join him."

"He probably does want you to join him Kagome, in hell. Narakau isn't dumb, he knows that if he can't destroy you, then he will find a way to turn you and have you rule by his side as his queen. He would be more powerful than ever if you ever changed to his dark ways and then everyone on this planet would be in danger."

"So what is he? The devil?" Kagome asked still not believing any of this.

"You can say he works for him and getting you would place him right by his side as his partner that is if he doesn't use you to overcome the devil himself."

Kagome shook her head. "This is too much… and who are you suppose to be if not an angel?"

"I'm only a youkai. I'm half human and dog demon. Shippou is a fox demon."

"You're a demon?" Kagome asked pulling away from him.

"Not all demons are bad, unfortunately you humans gave us the same name as the bad ones because you don't understand us which is one reason why I don't like your kind. Your logic is unreasonable. Everything that's not "normal" to you, you label it as evil."

"Well if you don't like me, why are you with me?" Kagome raised her head and managed to gracefully step out of the sheets this time without falling.

"Because I don't have a choice in the situation, I have to protect you from the "true demons" in hopes that you will make this world a peaceful place to live in. You are very powerful, Kagome even if you don't look it. Once you learn to control your powers and they reach the maximum strength, you will be able to do great things in the world."

Kagome was intrigued. "Like what?"

"Cure hunger, heal the sick, stop the wars, whatever it takes to preserve life on earth."

"That's impossible, no one can do that."

"You could..." Inuyasha said. "Or you could let Naraku influence you to join him and destroy everything on earth. It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen."

"And how long are you suppose to protect me?" Kagome raised her eyebrow. "No offense, but you're not the nicest person I've ever met. "

Inuyasha smirked. "Thanks."

"That was not a compliment," Kagome thought he was crazy.

"If a nice person was taking care of you, Kagome. You would be dead by now."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Until you die, which probably won't be long seeing you're a weak human and all." Inuyasha said casually.

"What?" Kagome face began to turn pale.

"Well the last human that was born with Shikon no Tama in her body died when it became too powerful for her to control, but I heard she did a lot of good things on earth, she never turned evil."

"Shikon what?"

"Oh right, you don't know," Inuyasha went to stand by the window. "The shikon no tama appeared inside of you when you turned 21. I suppose your body was finally mature enough to carry it. It's the thing that gives all life forms their energy to live. For example, that annoying cat that's following you around was dead, you touched it and brought it back to life."

Kagome stared back at the tabby cat that stared up at her as if it understood everything that was being said. It let out a soft meow. Kagome fainted.

Inuyasha turned around to see her lying unconscious on the floor. He stared down at her in confusion. Shippou ran up the steps, growled at Inuyasha and gently picked up the unconscious girl.

"What the hell is wrong with you telling her she's going to die? Kaede was wrong, you don't understand humans at all."

"And you do?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically.

"I have the common sense to know you don't tell a girl who's already shocked and confused that something inside of her is going to slowly kill her! Besides, you don't know if the same thing will happen to Kagome. She seems strong enough to carry it."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Shippou. "You are growing attached to the human," he pointed out.

Shippou blushed slightly. "Sorry, if I'm not as cold hearted as you, Inuyasha, but we've been watching over her for a week and she's a nice girl. What's not to like about her?" Shippou suddenly realized he was actually holding her in his arms. His eyes glazed over. "Wow, she's so beautiful..."

Inuyasha, rolled his eyes and took Kagome out of his arms. "The last thing I need is for you to start acting like a puppy around her. She's a job, Shippou, you should only see her as such. If you get emotionally attached to this human, you will not be able to think logically if Naraku was to attack us."

Shippou sighed and walked away. In a way, Inuyasha was right, but he realized his speech was too late. He did like Kagome. How could Inuyasha not like her when they watched everything she did. Perhaps, he had already gone off the deep end and lost what little emotions he had. Had Inuyasha really turned into just a living shell of himself?

Inuyasha watched Shippou leave the room and turned to the girl in his arms. Holding her so close had been a big mistake, her sweet scent was intoxicating, he wanted to bury his nose into her neck and inhale her into his body. Shippou was right, she was extremely beautiful, but he could not let his attraction to her sidetrack him.

He walked over to the bed noticing how light she was in his arms and laid her down. He ignored how fragile and innocent she looked as he picked the covers off the floor and placed them over her. He forced himself to walk out of the room instead of stand over her and gaze down at her like Shippou.

"Damn witch..." Inuyasha said not liking what he was feeling. "It's just the power of the shikon no tama," he reasoned with himself. "It's not her at all. I barely know her..." Then again, he realized that was a lie. He knew everything there was to know about Kagome. "It's not her dammit!" He yelled and slammed the door shut.


	4. Acceptance

Kagome woke up again. This time it was night outside. She looked around the quiet room wondering again if she had been dreaming the entire thing. Something moved on top of her foot. She looked down and saw the cat again. It raised it's head and yawned. No, not a dream, definitely not a dream .

Pulling the covers back and moving off the bed, she decided to go downstairs to see if the strange male was still in her house. She heard the television playing as she made her way down the steps. She stopped at the bottom, whoever they were, had made themselves right at home in her living room.

Shippou was the first to see her. He jumped up and grinned. "Hi Kagome, I'm happy to see you're finally awake. I've been waiting to introduce myself to you all day." He walked over to her. "I'm Shippou and the grouchy one on the couch is Inuyasha. You've already met him."

Kagome recognized Shippou from their first meeting at the BART station. He still had the fluffly orange tail that she couldn't stop herself from staring at. "Um...hi," she mumbled.

Shippou took her hand and brought her into the dining room. "We took the liberty of ordering some food. I hope you like Chinese."

"I'm not really hungry," Kagome glanced at Inuyasha who was sitting on the couch ignoring them and flipping through the channels.

"You have to eat, you haven't eaten all day," Shippou looked at her in concern.

"Will you just stop! Both of you, please just get out of my apartment. You come here and act as if we're old friends and I don't know either one of you. How would you like it if someone suddenly appeared in your life and took over?"

Shippou looked hurt and glanced at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha finally turned to look at Kagome. "Is that anyway to act to the people who saved your life, you ungrateful human? For the past week we've done nothing but follow you around and watch over you like some fucking guardian angels because we were trying to let you come to terms with your own power without invading your privacy, but then you had to go and jump in front of a bus, which I might add is the lousiest way to end your life, but hey who am I to judge? And now that we've finally revealed ourselves to you because we saved your life, brought you safely home and tried to feed you , the only thing you can say is get out? We're not going anywhere, bitch, so sit down, shut up and eat your damn food! "

Kagome glared at Inuyasha who glared back at her. Shippou stood between them looking from one face to the next. He could feel the heavy tension between the two and a sudden rise of power that wasn't coming from Inuyasha. He turned back to Kagome. The look on her face showed how furious she was. Electricity crackled around her. Shippou jumped out of the way when a bolt of light shot from her body straight at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha managed to jump from the couch a second before it hit. The couch turn completely black and incinerated in front of their eyes.

"Are you trying to kill me, bitch?" Inuyasha yelled staring at her in shock.

"Get out of my apartment!" Kagome started to walk to him, her long dark hair began to rise slowly in the air.

"Inuyasha, I think we better do as she says," Shippou told him. "I don't want to get burned!"

"Calm the hell down woman!" Inuyasha yelled at Kagome. Another bolt of light flew at him which he managed to dodge. It hit the wall leaving a huge hole in it.

"Let's just go!" Shippou yelled. He grabbed Inuyasha and ran out the door.

They stood outside and watched as the house shook and moaned. Flashes of light could be seen through the window. Things were crashing and shattering , even the cat ran outside and bounded down the street in fright.

"She doesn't know how to stop it," Shippou said staring at the house worriedly.

"I'm not going back in there," Inuyasha said angrily. "She wanted us out, so we're out, let her deal with it."

"She certainly has a temper," Shippou said with a slight grin.

It took a few minutes for Kagome to calm down and realized what she had just done, by that time, the apartment was totally destroyed. She looked around at the blackened walls, the television which had blown up, her pictures, decorations, everything shattered and torn. Oh my god, she thought. I did this?

"Do you think we should check on her?" Shippou asked after a few minutes of silence.

Inuyasha was still angry at her, but it was his duty to protect her so with a sigh he walked back in with Shippou. The place looked vastly different from a few minutes ago. It looked as if a bomb had went off. They found her huddled in a corner with her knees drawn to her chest.

"Kagome? Are you okay?" Shippou asked squatting down in front of her.

She raised her head, he could tell she had been crying. "I'm sorry I ruined dinner..."

Shippou smiled. "That's okay, there's plenty of more where that came from."

"It's all true, isn't it? This is real...look what I've done...Now I don't have a place to live." She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked around again.

Inuyasha growled something in him hated to see her cry. It annoyed the hell out of him. He walked past Shippou and grabbed her arm pulling her to her feet. "Get up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. We'll find another place to stay."

She glared at Inuyasha and snatched her arm away. "Why are you so mean to me? You've done nothing but talk down to me and insult me. If you don't want to be around me, leave me the hell alone. I certainly didn't ask for this to happen to me. I don't want to be in this situation no more than you do. My life is fucked up enough without having a creature that stalks and insults me. All you've done is make me upset, faint and cry and now I'm homeless. Are you sure you're on my side? Perhaps, you were sent here to make me destroy myself."

Inuyasha stared at her for a long moment. Everything she said was true, he was totally fucking this up just like he thought he would. What if she had destroyed herself because he kept making her angry. She had no clue how to control her power and this could have been so much worse than it was. Like an idiot, he had ran outside and left her alone to deal with it because she had pissed him off. He knew he owed her an apology and yet his pride wouldn't let him.

The room suddenly began to grow very cold. Kagome's breath began to appear in soft puff of smoke. Goosebumps began to pop up on her arms.

"Um..guys...I think we have company," Shippou said staring behind them.

They turned around. Three dark figures stood in the middle of the room. They looked like shadows, but they wasn't attached to the wall.

"What are those things?" Kagome asked shivering from the cold as well as fright.

"Ghosts," Inuyasha said. "They must have sense your power."

They suddenly came at Kagome at an alarming speed. They went right through Inuyasha who tried to block them. Kagome was thrown against the wall. Two of them held her arms against the wall while the third one tried to find a way inside of her. Kagome's mouth was yanked open. The third ghost slowly began to go inside.

"Get the hell off of her!" Shippou swung at them wildly with his fists, but they kept dissipating and reappearing. He watched helplessly as Kagome began to gasp for air. "She can't breathe! They're killing her!" He turned to Inuyasha for help.

He was standing a few feet away making a triangular sign with his fingers and chanting something in a foreign language he didn't understand. Inside the shape of the triangle a black void began to form, it began to whirl around like a miniature hurricane. The room began to fill with air. Inuyasha's long white hair began to fly wildly in the wind. The ghosts began to scream as their form began to stretch towards the black void. The two that held her against the wall was quickly sucked into the void. The one that had almost made it inside Kagome fought the hardest. Inuyasha began to chant louder and faster. The ghost tried to hold on, but ended up sucked into the void like the others. Inuyasha stopped chanting and quickly clapped his hands together . The void disappeared. He would have to thank Miroku for teaching him that little trick.

Kagome fell limply to the floor. She struggled to breathe. It was as if there was something blocking her air passage. Inuyasha ran to her and took her in his arms. He stared down at her pale face in concern. Her mouth was wide open and her eyes were unfocused. Inuyasha shook her hard. "Breathe! Breathe! Damn you!" She was about to lose conscious. He did the only thing he could think of at the moment. He bent down and latched his lips onto hers, took a deep breath and filled her lungs with the air she needed.

Kagome felt something burst free inside of her. Inuyasha pushed air into her mouth again and her lungs began to work. He pulled away when she took in a deep breath and began to breathe on her own. Her body relaxed in his arms.

Shippou fell to his knees beside them and sighed in relief. "That was another close call. Why did they attack her like that? She's obviously been living with them in peace until now."

"I've been living with ghosts?" Kagome gasped between breaths.

"Shhh," Inuyasha told her. "Be still Kagome. You need to get your strength back," he told her gently. "Most humans live with ghosts, they 're just not aware of it unless the ghosts want them to know." He turned to Shippou. "Her display of power must have attracted their attention. They realized what she was and tried to take the shikon no tama. They wanted to come back to life."

"They could have asked," Shippou said irritated.

"No, Kagome can't bring a soul without a body back to life, but, if they had taken the shikon no tama and absorbed it inside of them, the sheer force along would have turned them into a powerful creature."

"This is crazy!" Shippou said. "Everything is after her!"

"That's why we're here," Inuyasha said looking down at Kagome once again noticing how helpless and fragile she looked in his arms. "To protect her." Inuyasha found himself getting lost in those lovely brown eyes as they stared back at him with innocent trust. He blushed, he didn't deserve the way she looked at him after the way he had treated her. He stood up lifting her with him and cradling her close against his chest.

Kagome laid her head on his shoulder too weak to do anything else. "Let's get out of here. We'll find a nice place to stay," she heard him say. For some reason she had the hardest time keeping her eyes open.


End file.
